


Lifting Shadows Off a Dream

by Northern_Star



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Nightmares, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-02-20
Packaged: 2017-10-31 11:30:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Star/pseuds/Northern_Star
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jordan makes a bit of a discovery after Taylor has a nightmare.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lifting Shadows Off a Dream

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts).



> This assumes the boys share a room on the road, which is probably wrong... let's just pretend for a few hundred words.
> 
> Set shortly after Taylor got hit by a teammate's skate in the face.

Jordan squints against the light that's reflecting off the mirror and right into his eyes; he's still in that sightly confused and disoriented state that follows an abrupt awakening. There were noises, and then that annoyingly bright light from the bathroom which is still on, and Jordan is now sitting up in his bed, rubbing his eyes.

He notices the other bed is empty. "Hallsy?" he calls, "You okay?"

When no answer comes, Jordan slides off his bed and pads over to the bathroom. The door is open by a sliver so he peeks in, but doesn't see a thing there.

"Hallsy?" he asks, rapping the door with his knuckles. "You in there, man?"

There's a barely audible, "Yeah," a moment later, coming from inside the room.

Jordan carefully pushes the door open and finds Taylor sitting on the floor, his back against a wall, knees pulled up against his chest.

"What's wrong?" Jordan asks softly, as he comes to sit next to his teammate.

"Nightmare," Taylor tells him with a bit of a shrug. "Sorry I woke you."

"Don't worry about it," says Jordan, waving a hand dismissively. After a pause, he risks asking, "Want to talk about it?"

Taylor shrugs again and looks over to Jordan for a moment. Then he sighs and in a quiet tone, explains, "It's stupid... It just felt very real, that's all."

"Happens to me too sometimes."

"The blade was coming right at me, except it didn't land on my forehead," Taylor says. He shudders when he adds, "It went right into my eye. I could have lost my eye, Ebs."

Jordan nudges him with his shoulder. "Yeah, and then you could have had a second career as a monster in horror flicks," he says in a chuckle.

Taylor looks back at him, but he's not amused. In fact, he looks positively hurt. "Still could," he says, gesturing vaguely at his forehead, "I look like Frankenstein..."

"No you don't," Jordan objects. Sure half of Taylor's face is swollen to about twice its normal size, and he's got an awesome looking shiner, but it doesn't look half that horrible. It really doesn't. "Besides... Jonesy keeps saying girls find scars attractive. You'll be a babe magnet once this is all healed up, you'll see."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure that's true," Taylor says. A short pause later, "Do you?"

Jordan shrugs. "What the heck do I know what girls find attractive?"

"No, that's not—" Taylor sighs. "Never mind."

There's an awkward moment of silence during which Taylor stares at a spot on the floor as though it contains all the answers to the questions in the universe. By the time Jordan understands what Taylor was really asking, it's too late to answer the question properly.

Instead, he gets back up to his feet, extends a hand to Taylor and says, "C'mon, let's get you back to bed, okay?"

"Yeah," Taylor replies without conviction. "Sorry I woke you," he adds once he's standing as well.

Jordan wraps an arm around Taylor's shoulders, gently steering him toward the bedroom. "I don't mind," he says.

Several minutes after they've both settled back into their respective beds, Jordan looks over to Taylor, whose form he can barely make out in the darkness of their hotel room. "Hey, Hallsy?"

From the other bed comes a sleepy, "Mmm?" 

"I'd like you even if you did look like Frankenstein, you know."

There's no answer besides what sounds like a contented sigh, but Jordan decides he doesn't mind, as he closes his eyes and falls asleep again.

-The End.


End file.
